I don't want Henry to stay. Why? Because we need a branch and root re-examination of our assumptions and expectations at the international level and the lower tiers that support it. We need to look at how dangerously mono-cultural and monolithic (in playing style and professional approach) of our professional franchises compared to the strength in variety of our old provincial teams and question if the Super 14 is really the best competition to pick our international players from. Grahame Henry is part of our now discredited corporate professional rugby culture, and therefore he can't survive any meaningful review.

Me too. That story reminds me of the night England lost to West Germany on penalties at the 1990 World Cup. We were at Wembley (to see the Stones) and lots of the crowd had radios etc to listen the football (while at a Stones concert - go figure).

When the result came through, a wave of disappointment swept the crowd, and as we filed out of Wembley at the end, a large group of 30-40 english 'fans' started ripping all the hood ornaments off every Mercedes and BMW they could see in the surrounding streets, while singing that charming old ditty, '2 world wars and 1 world cup'.

I was at that concert too RL; one of the most surreal events I’ve been to. Massive Wembley crowd with more than a casual ear and eye cast in the direction of what was happening in Italy (I recall lots of people had portable TVs there too).

And when the England missed the crucial penalties, it was to the backdrop of “Sympathy ffor the Devil”.

I didn't go to see the Stones but was watching the game from my couch in Herne Hill. The final was poor but for most of the tournament it was a really fine world cup - Roger Milla and the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, Roberto Baggio and Toto Schillaci, and Gazza's tears. Oh, the memories. Sigh.

The final was poor but for most of the tournament it was a really fine world cup - Roger Milla and the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, Roberto Baggio and Toto Schillaci, and Gazza's tears. Oh, the memories. Sigh.

That's a tournament we lost in spite of a host-friendly referee (Schillaci's goal in the semi was offside). The next day I had my high school finals and the examiners turned their frustration into the grilling of a lifetime.

Me too. That story reminds me of the night England lost to West Germany on penalties at the 1990 World Cup.

Funny you should mention this Richard, as I was thinking yesterday that this game is similar to the ABs loss yesterday. 1990 was arguably England's best team since 1966 and their best chance to win back the football World Cup. Their failure to do so has led to successive tournaments where, despite continued high expectations and hype, their chances of victory seem to get further and further away.

Oh, and I started the day with another Hammers loss, not a good omen as it tuned out...

Peter: But no England team has ever gone into a football world cup touted as the dominant team and favourite in the way that the ABs were before this tournament. Brazil usually and the Dutch in 1978 and 1974 but never England.

So was the scene at St Lukes mall a couple of hours later, when I dropped to kids off at the movies. People -- men especially -- were wandering about distractedly, hoping that a little commerce night change the subject.

Men at shopping malls, the whole world's gone topsy-turvy. In all seriousness, about ten minutes after the final whistle I heard a lawnmower start up, a lady a few houses along was mowing the lawns, her husband probably still on the couch weeping through shock inside, her intuition telling her Him Indoors needs to be alone for quite some time.

I had breakfast a bit later own at a local cafe and there were a lot of people out who never go for walks or Sunday breakfasts, you could just sort of tell.

And since I've already heard the first talk of "mongrel" on the radio everything should be getting back to normal pretty soon.

Peter: But no England team has ever gone into a football world cup touted as the dominant team and favourite in the way that the ABs were before this tournament. Brazil usually and the Dutch in 1978 and 1974 but never England.

I think it was Giovanni who pointed out earlier that there are many parallels between the AB's and Brazil, who didn't win the World Cup between 1970 and 1994 (24 years), who went to several of those interim world cups with absolutely fantastic teams (Socrates, Falcao, Zico anyone?), and who for five long tournaments discovered to their cost that playing the prettiest football doesn't always win you the game.

Sadly, the beautiful and romantic game often loses to the prosaic, ruthless, and pragmatic :)

And in most of those tournaments (74-90) they got eliminated in the game of the Cup (especially in 82 and 86). The 94 side that broke the drought was probably the dreariest of all Brazil sides.

Part of the reason for this is that opposing sides will spend far more time in analyzing and finding weaknesses in them than other teams. This fact seems to be overlooked by the “All Blacks are Unbeatable” brigade.